Well I thought i could hold out longer, but my back tires have wear bands showing so I am going to buy new tires. I am looking at 3 different tires all at 31X10.50R15:

1) Pirelli Scorpion AT
2) Goodyear Wrangler AT/S
3) Goodyear Wrangler MT/R

From asking around here and talking with a neighbour, I know that the Scorpions are good for life and have good snow traction when they are siped, and tirerack.com rates them at 8.3/10 for snow traction. The MT/R's seem to be extremely popular here, and I like them for their sweet looking tread pattern, but I am not so sure on how they do as far as snow and road noise. According to Tire rack they have a rating of 9.3/10 for snow traction and noise rating of 7/10. So they should give good snow traction; my biggest concern. The AT/S I was looking at because I thought the channels would allow for good snow purging, AT's are also generally quieter than MT's and because the MT/R's are popular, I figure'd these wouldn't be so bad either. They however are rated at 7.3/10 for snow traction. So that's how I am viewing these tires, now for the math/cost factor.

The local discount tire co and goodyear both off price match, which I will use from tirerack.com

At Discount I can get the pirellis for $404 plus labor, stems, and balancing.

For the goodyears, I have a 20% off coupon so I can get the AT/S for $409 plus labor, stems, and balancing, and the MT/R's for $443 plus labor, stems, and balancing.

Keeping in mind I am on a tight, minimum wage budget, and need to have good snow traction, should I go for the Pirellis, AT/S's, or MT/R's? and just a quick snippet as to why? Thanks for reading all of this, and thank you in advance for your suggestions.

 

Well the MT/R's do indeed have a ton of road noise, but if you get those get them because they perform off-road. Pirelli makes great tires but most are expensive! From what I'm gathering that you want, the Pirelli's would probably be your best bet. AT/S is probably your second best I think, but it IS your truck! Get what ye like!

Zach

 

Thanks SR5. I guess I should point out too that the truck will be remaining on road 99% of the time... hopefully when i get to college that'll drop to 90%...

 

Hey there... I live up in snow country too and from my experience the more agressive tread pattern always seems to do better. Sticking with a thinner tire like 10.5 is a good way to go also (you don't want alot of floatation). Mudders tend to give you that "bring it on!" attitude instead of that "Oh my God!!! a snowflake!!!" headache! I know there a tad bit more, but I say Wrangler's MTR's would be your best bet. Snow is mushy, wet, and slick... kind of like mud. The ice, well thats a different story... do The MTR's accept studs???

 

IF you are worried about road noise, TURN UP the stereo! That's what I did on my last Taco that made a bunch of tire noise!

You can't go wrong with the ATSs or the MTRs because they are Goodyear. I got over 75K+ out of my last set of ATSs rotated every 5K. You can't beat that with tire jack from an old Ford!

Brian

 

I've never liked Goodyears. It seems that every time I have a set, they get incredibly NOISY as the tire ages. I went with Goodrich Trail TA's. and they were about the same price as the Goodyears. I have no info on longevity though. I did have one LongTrail TA lose it's tread on me this summer, but Sam's Club covered most of it and gave me 2 new Trail TA's for $120.

As far as traction. I've never gotten stuck, but we don't have the mud the rest of you have. Even the LongTrails did well on the sand and rock out here. They rode softer too (wife complains now).

 

I was formerly using Goodyears and was a happy customer. I recently bought these Geolanders and have been floored with the performance. They are quiet and have an awsome feel. I would highly recomend them over any other tire if you don't use it for stricktly off road. BTW - their mud performance is excellent as well. Check 'em out:

Geolander

 

I would rather take a beating than drive on Goodyears. I had a friend that had the Scorpions...he liked them and they seemed to have good tread life...personally i would go with Michelin LTX A/T's. Can't beat Michelin tires...IMO

 

I have 25K + on my Scorpions and they look almost brand new. I dont notice much road noise either. Did some fairly light off roading last weekend too , and no complaints.

 

Play's, do you have a Sam's club nearby? If so go and check out the Goodyear AT/D's ( I can't seem to find them anywhere else). I have them on my truck and they were outstanding in all of the snow we had this winter in MD. They are also quiet on the road, and have an aggressive tread pattern.

You can see a pic of them in this thread on page 2, that I took of them from my truck.


Hope that helps.tire link

 

I've only put 7k on my MT/R's but I love them. They are a lot quieter than the BFG MT's most people run. They have a good highway ride all the way up to 80 MPH (I have a 2nd gen so more speed means single digit gas mileage). They even ride better than the Bridgestone AT's I had before. That said the other Goodyears I've had on other cars have always dry rotted quickly in the desert environment I live in. Off road the MT/R's are excellent in everything I've driven them through.

I've heard the Scorpions are very good but they wear out quickly. I think another tire you should consider is the Bridgestone Revo if you want a more street oriented tire like the Scorpion. Whatever you choose to buy make sure that the dealer balances them with the Haweka adapter if you have stock wheels. My MT/R's are dead smooth after a Haweka balancing.

 

Everyone I know who's put Pirelli's on anything besides a performance car has regretted it. Mostly because of traction and wear issues. I'm not a big Goodyear fan - think they're way overpriced. I also hate Discount Tire and BigO because of their hidden charges and poor service.
Call Barnsley Tire up here in Boulder. Best service in the state! I just had a rotation, rebalance and screw extraction done for FREE since I bought the tires there. They'll also order anything they don't have in stock and do it for a very reasonable price.
I've got Dunlop Radial Rover AT's now and love them. Hope I still will 30K miles later. Several friends have had good experiences with the Yokahama Geolanders, Cooper Discovery and, of course, the over-rated, over-priced Duellers.

 

This is not one of your options, but I jsut went with 285/75R16 Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revos, because everyone seems to love them, they have a 50,000 mile warranty, a 30-way drive and return policy if you don't like them, a 1/32 tread wear free replacement warranty, and then a prorated warranty from there. Plus, after reading just about every review on tire rack and on this forum, it is listed as the best all-around all-terrain tire money can buy. Just my two cents!

Chris

 

I had Pirelli Scorpion A/T's on my Nissan (up until a few weeks ago when I got my 4R). They were good tires. Not too noisy, great off road (although I'm tame compared to all of you) and they look good. I did have a problem getting them balanced (took 4 tries)- although that may not have been the tire.
I got mine through discount tires. Lifetime warranty which came in handy when I blew out a tire going up to Big Bear. There was a local store, popped in and got another Scorpion for free.

I actually think the Yokohama Geolandar II A/T is supposed to be a really great tire. I'll probably go with that when I upgrade tires.

 

I have the Pirelli's (came with it) and I like them. The sidewalls are a little weak for my liking. You mentioned that you will be driving 99% on road.

I would go with the Pirelli's out of the given choices for on road driving.

 

Cooper Discovery H/T! I've put 10,000 miles on mine in just under a year. They're have a semi aggressive tread for an H/T, they're quiet, excellent in the snow/mud (had plenty of both between this past winter/rainy spring/summer), and grip well in wet conditions. Plus my Coop's were nearly $20 cheaper per tire as compared to similar a Michelin. This past fall Cooper tied Michelin in "Best Customer Satisfaction Replacement Tire" for light trucks & SUV's:

http://www.coopertire.com/us/en/Why/jdPowerAward.asp

Can't go wrong with a Cooper. I know several people with A/T's who have mentioned they have a little road noise, but my H/T's are extremely quiet.

 

I think another great tire that doesn't get a lot of play. Is the Mickey Thompson MTX's. Almost all of the tire companies carry them. Especially Discount Tire and BigO.
It's a great tire with a great price. I have 65K miles on mine and they still have another 10k miles in them easily.

Great traction off-road in snow, mud and rocks.

Check em out.

MTX

 

Here's another vote for the bridgstone Revos. I have put about 10,000 miles on mine and I love them. They work great on the street ( they don't squeel around corners like my old michelin ltx's did). I Live in southern Cal. but I go skiing a lot and these baby's were amazing in the deep snow. On my last trip (in enough snow to stop most cars I just kept going without a wiggle. ) I never even needed to go into 4by I was so confident and impressed by their snow grip. Anyway I think you should check them out.

 

my mechanic has noticed a lot of problems with peolple running the Pirellis on their 1/2 gens up here. They seem to have an uneven wear pattern paticularly with the ifs frontends. They are prone to wearing the inside edge first. My guy feels this is because of the soft side walls, they can't carry the load.
My tire of choice would be the BFG ATs they have a good solid side wall and a nice not too noisy ride. So far as snow grip is concerned I had a set on my 1 gen long box and even when they were almost bald they still would not slip unless I deliberately tried to lay down some rubber They also had good off road/mud traction (on construction sites) I'll be buying a set for my 2 gen before the winter myself. Cheers Aviator

 

On a budget - I'd check out some coopers. just my two cents